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I’m Bob Larson. With the midterm election in the rearview mirror, there are going to be plenty of changes in the House of Representatives after Democrats took over the majority …

NEWHOUSE … “As you can imagine, the atmosphere is changing here with the, after the election and the majorities in the House changing and so that adds a, I guess you can say a complexity to the whole process.”

NEWHOUSE … “I’m told by the Chairman and the ranking member of the ag committee that we are very close, that a lot of the challenges or issues that needed to be worked out have been and so I’m assured that there is optimism that we will get that done before the end of the year.”

Even without knowing what would happen less than 24 hours later, Newhouse hedged his bets …

NEWHOUSE … “I can’t guarantee anything around here that’s my best information is that there are very few things now standing in the way of getting that done. I think, I’ve been told that one of the last challenges has to do with the reform of how we manage our forests and some give and take on that issue and so once that’s ironed out we should be able to move forward and have the final votes.”

Then, the very next morning House and Senate negotiators did indeed reach a deal on the 2018 farm bill that must now go to the Congressional Budget Office to make sure it meets fiscal muster.